Method and means for the manufacture of illuminating gas



558,124 L. S. STILES METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS Filed June 10, 1920 3. Stile PaterltedOct. 20, 1925.

UNITED STATES LINFO'RD S. STILES, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

mnmon AND M ANS FOR THE MANUFACTURE or ILLUMINATING GAS.

Application filed June 10, 1920. Serial No. 387,838.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, Lmrom) S. S'mLEs, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Methods and Means for the Manufacture of Illuminating Gas, of which the following is, a specification. i

The object of my invention is to provide an improved method and means for producing il uminating gas, more particularly intended to improve the elliciency of the general character of apparatus heretofore in use by increasing the output capacity in gas, reducing the time periods in which the apparatus is out of operation torcleaning and necessary repairs, and enabling thevproduction of a satisfactory gas from inferior materials and especially from oil employed as the medlum of carburettmg or enriching the hydrogen or blue gas.

lVIy' llIlPI'OVQlllBlll'S are especially directedto that type of gas apparatus commonly known as water gas plants. in which coal 5 is raised to. incandescencebyair blast, steam is decomposed by the incandescent coal in r the generator, the water gasso produced 1s carburetted by oilvaporized and mixed with it in a heated carburetter and the enriched or illuminating gas so made is fixed by )assa ethrou h a heated su erheater andsubsequently' passed through a Water seal to be delivered to the holder for consumption after undergoing purification. In comlnerical practice, with a plant having a capacity of 3,000,000 cubic feetof gas per day, the set of apparatus can be-run for about forty days (1000 hours) with the result that, with satisfactory oil havingia paraflin base, the checker brick filling of the carburetter will have become so heavily coated with'deposits from the hydrocarbon in the oil and carbon from the generator," that the gas space through the staggered or checker brick filling will have been so, greatly reduced and clogging produced that the gas production drops ofl rapidly with corresponding inefficiency. The carburetter must then be shut down and cleaned. The superheater may be run for about eighty days (2000 hours), as

it fouls much more slowly than carburetter.

Similarly, the generator may be run for about-eighty days without repairs. From this, it is seen that the carburetter requires twice the attention for repairs which 'is necessary for the superheater and generator and consequently, when the plant is shut down for repairing the carburetter, the gas make of the entire set'oi apparatus is lost for the period required to cool off and rechecker the carburetter, which amounts to from seven to ten days; and hence in a cycle of, forty-seven. days, there are forty days in operation and atleast seven days shut down, making fifteen per cent of the time in which the costly lant is out of service. This is notonly a irect loss on} capital invested, but so reduces the production of gas per set of apparatus, that it necessitates additional reserve installation in the plant, involving greater investment, and thereby increasing the cost of the gas.

.One of the special objects of my invention is to so modify the usual gas installation that not only-is greater efliciency during operation insured, but the annual output in gas per set of apparatus may be increased more than fifteen per cent with use of the same rade of fuel and oil. In carrying out tlllS object of my invention, I provide additional carburettor equipment which may be coupled into operative relation with the generator andsuperheater. in alternative relati'onwith the carburetter commonly em ployed, by suitable controlling means, whereby continuous operations may be car ried on for periods of eighty days instead of forty days and the obstructing difliclllties from fouling may ina greatmeasure be reduced with resulting increase in gas production; and in those cases where the plant contains two sets of apparatus, the same advantagesmay be secured by the employment of one additional carburetter adapted for use with the two sets alternately and alternately with the carburetters of each set, thereby providing greater economy in cost of installation and space required.

In further considering the nature of my improvements, I point out that it is not always possible to secure a satisfactory 011 suitable as an enriching medium for the water gas (blue gas) which consists largely of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and which carburetted or enriched gas is fixed? by assing through the carburettor and superfieater by which the gas is subJected to high temperature fixation. Experience shows that the grade of oils available for gas roduction are deteriorating, in that instea of having a parafiin base they have an asphalt base and sometimes having ob'ec tionably large percentages of coke resi ue, in some cases as high as fifteen per cent. These oils are of lower specific gravity than what has heretofore been available in abunao dance, and the enforced use of them will ultimately and necessarily result by reason ofthe decreasing production of the higher specific gravity oils having the parafiin base. These low specific gravity oils having asphaltum and coke bases atly increase the fouling of the checker brick in the carburettiers and superheater, so that instead of permitting runs for 1000 hours (40 days) before cleaning of the carbuiretter isrequired, thecleaning will have to be done more fre-. quently and therefore there will be a still .further benefit to be derived by use of the additional or auxiliary carburetter, but its use will bemandatory if the plant is to be,

this must be'overcome to maintain a profit-' able operation of the gas plant, and to overcome this difiiculty is another of the special objects of my invention g In carrying out this latter object of my 40 invention, I provide each 'set of apparatus with an auxiliary generator which is operated simultaneously with the main generator and in parallel therewith, whereby the gas roducts of both generators are supplie to the same carburetter at the same time and whereby they commingle and are subject to the same subsequent treatment in the carburetter and superheater; but in the "production of the water gas in the two generators, there is a difference in procedure in the following respects: The main generator may be of the usual type and employed to produce water gas (blue gas) only; and it may be blown in one directionand,

' if desired, have the blue gas generated under reversed action, as by supplying the steam alternately-above and below the incandescent bed of coal, coke or other fuel employed, valves being'provided in the gas flues for 9 insuring proper delivery of the gas to the .carburetter under the reversed'operation. The auxiliary generatondiifers from the main. generator in operatingonly in one direction both for air blast and steam supply,

and further in being supplied above the coal the vaporized oil passing from the generator will not be objectionable, as would be thev case if there were frequently operated valves through which they must pass and which would become gummed up or rendered inoperative. In .this manner, not only is the auxiliary generator utilized to increase the gas ou -put by keeping the generator capacity going twice as longduring periods of peak load occurring in the several winter months of the year, and in compensating for the deficiency in gas production in cases wliereless oil is necessarily employed, but it provides an eflicient means of handling low (Baum) gravity oils having objectionable bases of asphalt and coke and preventing what would otherwise be an excessive fouling of the carburetters and superheaters.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will be more fully understood from the description hereinafter, my invention consists in the method and means relating to the manufacture of illuminating gas as hereinafter more fully described and defined in the claims.

-- Referring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a two set gas plant embodying ny-invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on a vertic'al plane at the dotted line of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view along the flues from the generator to the plurality of carburetters showing a suitable valve for controlling the pipes in connection with the carburetters; and Fig. 4 is an elevation of a two set gas plant of a somewhat different lay-out than that 'sealboxes of each of the two sets of gas apparatus and these are associated with the auxiliary carburetter 3" and the necessary lines and control means for properly directing the flow of the gases as hereinafter more fully explained. The generators, carbu-- retters, and superheaters may be of any usual construction, such as metal shells; firebrick lined, and in case of the two latter, provided with checker brick work. Such details need not be described in detail, asI do not restrict myself in thisrespcct. The main gas generator is preferably provided with blast pipe 6 at bottom, steam pipes 12 both at top and ,bottom for reversing operation when generating water or blue gas, and gas flues 7 and 8 opening respectively from above and below theiuel bed, chamber and each provided with control valves 11 of any suitable character. These flues 7 and 8 deliver beyond the valves into a common fine 9 which leads to the upper ends of the carburetters 3 and 3*. These valves 11' are, respectively, alternately opened and closed, so that when steam is admitted by .the

lower steam'supply pipe 12 below the incan-' descent fuel bed, the valve influe 7is opened and valve in fine 8 closed, so that gas is generated and flows upward through the generator. Reversely, when steam is admitted by the upper steamsupply pipe 12 above the incandescent fuel bed, valve 11 in flue 7 is closed and valve 11 in flue 8 is opened, so that the gasflows down through the generator. The blast, when supplied, always enters the generator at the bottom below the fuel bed, and as is well underfrom the generator. when blowing up..-

stood, the air blast and steam' are supplied alternately.

The flue 9 from generator 2 leads to carburetter 3 by. flue 10 and to carburetter 3 by flue 10, and the gases are supplied to these carburetters alternately according to the adjustment of the valve devices 19 which will be later described. The lower ends of the carburetters 3 and 3 are con nected with the bottom portion of the superheater 4 by fines, a and 4, respectively,

which are also controlled by suitable valve devices 19, to co-operate with'the control of .the valve devices 19, whereby either carburetter 3 or 3- may be coupled in operative relation with the su rheater. I

The carburetters and 3' are provided with air blast pipes'20 attheir upper ends to aid in heating them by burning the gas similarly the superheater 4-is provided at the bottom with air blastpipe 21 to'assist in heating it up under the same conditions. The carburetters are also provided at top with oil supply nozzles 13 arid the super.

heater with escape valve 14 for temporarily venting the waste gases when heating up.

preparatory to a run .of illuminating gas. The illuminating gas from the superheater passes through the seal box' 5 and is delivered by conduit 15 to a. holder.

In addition tothe ordinary set of 'gas "apparatus supplemented by the auxiliary carburetter 3', I also provide an additional or auxiliary generator 16 which is connected at its upper part by a fine 10 which communicates not only with the flue 9 of the main generator 2 but also with fines 10 and 10', leading to the carburetters. This auxiliary generator 16 is supplied with blast pipe 17 and also with a steam supply pipe 19 at the bottom. so that in its operation, both in blowing and generating water gas, the air and steam employed is fed to the generator below the fuel bed and the gases rise upwardly through the fuel. The steam supply is not reversed as in themain generator. In

addition to the capacity for generating blue gas, the generator is provided with an oil supply nozzle '18 for supplying the oil to the=top of the generator and preferably upon the incandescentfuel therein, whereby the more volatile portions of the oil will be vaporized and mixed with theblue gas to constitute a rich carburetted water gas, which is conducted oii by flue 10 and mixed with the blue as from 'enerator 2 preliminary to the mixture passing into the carburetters 3 and 3?. In this manner, the coke residueor asphalt base of the oil is burned up in the generator 16 and'prevented from forming excessive deposits on the .checker brick of the, carburetters with-the resulting objectionable and rapid cloggingof the same. While the generator 2 is provalves which arerequiredto be shifted fre-'.

quently durin the'run of the plant would soon become 0 ogged and inoperative where the hydrocarbon enriching material was vaporized in the generator and'required to pass through them. In practice, the reversing valves 11 and-generator 2 ar required to be operated at-intervals of a few minutes and consequently'in a generator in which the oil is vaporized, it is important that valves this is accomplishedby employing an auxiliary generator in which thehydrocarbon 1s 'admitted 'with every run ofgas. If the oil were admitted to the top of generator 2 when the steam-is admitted to the bottom of of this character shall be eliminated, and l the bed of coal, the generation of the hydrocarbon vapors would be intermittent with the generation of blue. gas, and, therefore, objectionable" inv this respect; But aside from this, the heavy hydrocarbon vapors would clog the valve 11 in the upper flue 7 and in a short time make it ditfieult or impossible to operate the generator 2 thereby.

This combination of an auxiliary genera fl to'r with oil supply and the main generator without oil supply and preferably with reversing capacity for the steam is an important feature of my invention, where low grade oils having objectionable bases are necessarily employed either'becaixse of lack of production of high grade, oils having a parafiin base or because of the necessity of economy in case of available oils. By insuring the separation and burning up of the asphalt or coke base of the oil, I am enabled,

in this manner, to maintain the run of a thousand hours 9r more with the use of a carburetter'ber'ore requiring cleaning repairs, and furthermore, I am enabled to maintainthe total output of gas from the plant, notwithstanding the decreased gas value of the oil of inferior quality which may thus be employed, whether voluntarily or by necessity. Should the richness of the water gas 2 in hydrocarbons be insufiicient to meet the requirements under which the plant is.-r equ red to operate, some. additional better grade oil may be supplied tothecarburetters,by the nozzles 13 m sthe'mannerheretm fore customary,- and in fact, in those cases where the high grade oils become available, theentire oil supply maybe rovideld by the nozzles 13, if so desired, an thegenerator 16' only employed forjfu'rnishin additional blue gas at those times of t e year when the peak load is especially heavy-J I "1 My improved apparatus may thus operated .as a: single set but in large plan s there are two or more, sets required a'ndfI have,'therefore, indicated lllf th drayving's, Figs. 1 and 4,'the"arrangement of a'two's t plant and the econoniy inconnection with-a m fi plant resides'un em l i m t h t auxiliary carburetter lie-as 'acoinmon 'uni to each of the two. sets. Thus, iii ,Fig

be understood that the generators (if the left-hand set may be operatedin ciin'nection with the carburetter- 3' or the carbiiretter 3, as may be required, and, similarly, the

generator of the right-hand set maybe op-- 'erate'd in connection with the other carburetter 3 of its own set or the auxiliary qarbu- 'r'et'ter'. 3, as required. "The combined operation of the two sets is, however, socont'rolled "as to time of cleaning the carburetters, that theauxiliary carburetter 3 may cleaned, 'twice as often as the 'carburetters 3'and'superheaters 4, if so desired, but is also mani- I ,f'st that the runs may be'made through'tlie fiu.

' fir twice the period "that they would c'arbur'etters 3 from each set of generators from the i respective 1' sets of generators through the'auxiliary carburetter 3, so that the ultimate duty of each of the carburetters 3 andthe carb iretter 3 may bew substantiah sumed' that 1y e :11- h s. re .Q tionin p t thwl rati n of use of th carburetrs fiend 38in connection with the iresective sets of generators is a matter which may ,be varied to suit the engineering requirements.

I have heretofore referred to the valve device 19 which are to control the flow ofgas from the generators to the carburetter's 301- 3, as the case'ma'y be, and from these-carburetters to the superheater, and!" will now refer to the preferred construction which is more fully illustrated in Fig. 3. By reference to Fig. 3, it jwill be seen that the flues 10, and. 10., form a Y and at the branching point there are flange structures 20 between which a valve plate 19 .is inserted and which may be clam d'in adjusted positions by the bolts 21. v 's late is provided with an-aperture 19" which as a diameter correspondmg to the interiorof the lined flues," so as to provide a clear through passage from flue 101,130 flue 10", as shown, 0. v fi'omfiue 10 to flue 1 0', .as' may be required; The late, therefore, presents a blank to shut 0 one of theflues 10 or 1Q", while leayin the other open; into the flue When this shifting is be" irfo'rmedfthe bolts 21ers ,removed and the plate 1,9 shifted, the bolt insei'ted' and theparts definitely clamped in the new adjustment. In'avalve device of this character, there is no-possibilv 1 rvals apart, there is no"special objection at the time required to perjorm the shitting o ration; Itigiar nore'importanttthat arise when it ispnecessary to make the shifts. The valyedeuices 19 in the flues'4" 'a;nd Q

lQPfbut 'Ifwish to'be' understoodithat Wt do see analyser as a; finiteness;- {1

t ei v v a sa may -w n suitable manner fouhd satisfacto the foregoingfdescription 'efa' as an; embodyin my improvements," 1' ave a's-v I allof the neratoi's, carburetters and superheaters [w re"" arrange'gl upon ."he same floor, as is sometimes'cnstomary; but in other cases where instiflieient"s acefia'available, it i'sicustomar'y to'bnild-t 'e'su" erhea'b' ers' and carburetter's at a-hi'her ee'vatitin thanthe'generators and in? t nts-see ,the

."t ere 'shallbe no clogging and no difliculty superheatersmay'fhe jbiiilt directly ,upon the main generators." .-My,-'inventie i;; therefore, may be modified .injthegeneralflay eut to correspond substantially t' Figfif4. In this case; 2 represents-the main gas generat rs, was "superheatets, a and 3 the 'ca'rhnrette'rs, and" 16 th aiikrliaiy-"gas generator, all asprovided fer in'th bbnstrnction' illustrated gn Fig;'-'1; In this' tllustra- 'tio'n I have indicated "the "velye navigate a 0 what is sheen in Fig. 4, it will be seen that all of the generators 2 and 16 are located on the lower floor of the building While all of the super-heaters land carburetters are located on the upper floor of the building, and in this manner, it is manifest that less floor space for the building will be requiredthan when all of the elements making up the plant are arranged upon the same floor.

I have described my improved method and means in that particularity which I deem to be the best exposition of my invention, and that which I prefer in commercial practice,

but I do not restrict orconfine myself to the minor -or secondary details, as such are susceptible of modification, which may be resorted to as matters of mechanical skill and without a departure from the spirit of the invention. c

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure bylietters Patent, is g 1. In a gas apparatus, a water gas generator having blast and steam pipes, combined with asuperheater, two carburetters through which the water gas from the generator flows to the superheater, gas flues connecting the generator with the inlets of the two carbu' retters and having means for controlling the communication of the generator with the two carburetters, whereby they may be alternately put into. and out of operative communication with the generator, gaspassages fromthe outlets of the carburetters connecting with inlet of the superheater, and separate means for supplying oil to the respective carburetters whereby the vapors arising therefrom are commingled directly with the water gas passing through the carburetters, the construction of the carburetters being such that the water gas in carburetted condi tion is delivered into and through the superheater for being fixed therein. 7

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein further, the means for. controlling the communication with the carburetters are the fluesand blank union parts for closed connections in the remaining fines.

3. The invention according to claim 1, furthercharacterized by the water gas generator having means for supplying steam both to valves therein for reversing the gas flow through the generator and delivering the water gas to the carburetters, and an auxiliary water and oil gas generator having means to supply steam at its bottom and means to supply oil at its top to carburet the water gas produced, and a gas passage leading from the auxiliary generator for supplying carburette-d gas to. the carburetters along with the water gas from the other generator. g

4. In a gas apparatus, a water gas generator having steam supply pipes both at the upper and lower portions and also having flues with valves therein for reversing the gas flow through the generator, combined with a superheater, two carburetters through which the water gas from the generator flows to the superheater, gas flues connecting the generator with the inlets of the two carburctters and having means for controlling the communication of the generator with the two carbui-etters whereby they may be alternately put into and out of operative communication with the generator, an auxiliary water andoil gas generator having means to supply steam at its bottom and'oil at its top to carbu'ret the water gas produced, a gas passage leading from the auxiliary generator for supplying carburetted gas to the carburetters along with the water gas from the other generator, said gas passage from the auxiliary generator formed of a constantly open passage leading from the same end of the generator into which the oilsupplying means is connected, gas passages from the outlets of the carburetters connecting with the superheater, and separate means for supplying oil to-the respective carburetters whereby the vapors arising therefrom are' commingled directly with the water gas passing through the carburetters, the conand provided with a gas outlet at its upper part for communication with the carburetters, means to supply air blast and steam to its lower part, and means't-o supply oil to its upper part. 1

6. A gas generating plant, comprising two water gas sets each composed of a generator, a carburetter, a superheater and a water seal and connecting fines for passing the water gas from the generator successively through the carburetter, superheater and water seal, and an additional carburettor and connecting fines for. putting said carburetter into communication with the generaits upper and lower portions and fiues with tor and superheater of either set at any one time, and means. for causin the circulation of water gas from each the generators through the carburetter of its own set or liverin thewcarburetted water gasproducedin sai auxiliary generators to the carburetter of the respective set or to the add1- tional carbnretter according to the adjusted connections thereof with the generator.

8. In a gas apparatus, a main generator for producing uncarburetted water gas, a carburetter, a su rheater, a water seal, and

communicating ues whereby the water gas may pass from the generator successively through the carburetter, superheater and water seal, combined with an auxiliary water and oil gas generator provided with steam supply at the bottom and oil supply at the top to produce a rich carburetted-water gas, and having'a flue for direct delivery of the gas into the carburetter where] it .is thoroughly commingled with the watergas from the main generator prior to fixation.

9. The herein described method of generating an illuminating water gas .with use of an .oil having an asphalt base which consistsin generatmgi uncarburetted water gas in one generator having an incandescent bed of, fuel, generating water gas in another generator also having an incandescent bed of fuel and immediately carburetting the water as bysupplying to said generator above. t e fuel bed therein a heavy oil having an asphalt basewhereby the more vola-' tile hydrocarbons are vaporized and commingled with the water gas passing from the generator and the objectionable asphalt fixing chamber wherein the carburetted gas and other non-volatile" bases of the oil are consumed by combustion within the genera tor, mixing the carburetted water gas with the. uncarburetted water gas from the re; spective generators and theiri incandescent beds of fuel and-supplying the mixed "gases to the action of a highly heated carburetter to reduce the-mixture to a homogeneous carburetted condition, and thereafter fixing the .carburetted water gas so provided by pass- ;ing it through a highly heatedfixing chamber.

10. The herein described method of ener-.

sting an illuminating water gas :wit use of an :oil having an asphalt base which consists in generating uncarburetted water gas,

rection only and in supplying steam alternately to the upper and lower portions of the generator, generating water gas in another generator also having an incandescent bed of fuel by blowing it always in one direction and supplying the steam below the fuel bed to generate water gas and immediately carburetting the water gas by sup lying to said generator above the fuel ed therein a heavy oil having an asphalt base whereby the more volatile hydrocarbons are vaporized and coinmingled with the Water gas passing from the generator and the ob?" jectionable asphalt andfother non-volatilebases of the oil are consumed by combustion within the generator, nnxlng the carburetted water gas with the uncarburetted water gas from the respective generators and their.

incandescent beds of fuel and supplying the mixed gases to the action of a highly heated carburetter to reduce the mixture to' a homogeneous carburetted condition,- and thereafter fixing the carburetted water "as so provided by passing it through a highly heated fixing chamber. 7 I

- 11. The invention according -toclaim 10 further characterized by supplying addit-ional oil of a lighter and more volatile 1 character to the carburettor to further en- 5 rich the gas mixture before passing out of the carburetter to t e fixing chamber.

12. The herein described method for maintaining a gas apparatus continuously in operation which consists in generating a water gas in suitable generating apparatus and vsupplying it to, two highly heated carburetters wherein it isfully enriched with oil and made homogeneous as to quality,

thereafter supplying the hydrocarbon gases from the carburetters to ahighly heated is fixed .prior ,to storage, controlling the ;flow of the water gas from the generator apgas is supplied alternately from said carburetters to the. superheater, and during the period'that the gases are flowing from one carburetter to the .superheater, cleansing the interior of the' other carburetter and vice versa.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

LINFORD s. STIL'ES. 

